Marc Aplin's Blog, page 83
March 28, 2018
The Machine’s Child by Kage Baker
I have some very mixed feelings about The Machine’s Child. On the one hand, I think I will always love Kage Baker’s work. The future she paints is intricate and engaging, and the visions of the past are playful without being mocking. This next installment in the Company series propels us further still to 2355 […]
March 27, 2018
Monster Hunter World – Video Game Review
I have no desire to stalk and kill big game across the savanna plains of Africa. To be honest, the whole concept of big game hunting; shooting and killing an animal just because it is a) there and b) I happen to have a gun and it does not, holds absolutely no appeal to me. […]
March 25, 2018
Fixer by James Jakins – SPFBO Review
Jack Bloodfist fixes things. That’s what his card says, anyway. When the orcs and goblins of Summervale, Virginia need something done they call Jack. He’s the one who convinces the local PD to ignore any tribal violence. The guy who makes sure the goblins aren’t evicted whenever they do something decidedly goblin. He also does […]
Summerlark Elf by Brandon Draga
An elf with a mysterious background? Check. A Halfling with a less than reputable profession? Check. A half-elf with parental issues? Check. A dwarf with a pickaxe? Check. All of them coming together to form an adventuring party? CHECK! As an avid Dungeons & Dragons player and DM in my youth, I thoroughly enjoyed listening […]
March 23, 2018
Blood of the Four by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon
In the great kingdom of Quandis, everyone is a slave. Some are slaves to the gods. Most are slaves to everyone else. Blessed by the gods with lives of comfort and splendor, the royal elite routinely perform their duties, yet some chafe at their role. A young woman of stunning ambition, Princess Phela refuses to […]
March 22, 2018
The Crimson Queen by Alec Hutson – SPFBO Review
Long ago the world fell into twilight, when the great empires of old consumed each other in sorcerous cataclysms. In the south the Star Towers fell, swallowed by the sea, while the black glaciers descended upon the northern holdfasts, entombing the cities of Min-Ceruth in ice and sorcery. Then from the ancient empire of Menekar […]
March 20, 2018
Taming MICE – The MICE Quotient and Storytelling
Fantasy is a genre of strange and diverse stories covering countless themes, concepts and ideas, in order to gain a better understanding of how our stories work and the nature of their structure, it can be useful to look at the ways they are categorised and study what traits make them what they are. The […]
March 19, 2018
E. J. Swift Interview – Paris Adrift
E. J. Swift is the author of the Osiris Project trilogy, whose three novels Osiris (2012) Cataviero (2013) and Tamaruq (2015) explore a world transfigured by climate change, in a water-bound city in which the elite live in luxury whilst the have-nots live in poverty. Her award-winning short fiction has appeared in Interzone, and the […]
March 16, 2018
R. A. Salvatore Interview – Child of a Mad God
R. A. Salvatore quit his day job in 1990 to fully embrace his love affair with fantasy. Many of us fantasy nerds are glad he did! Although he scarcely needs an introduction, Salvatore is a New York Times Bestselling Author, selling over ten million copies of his books worldwide in numerous languages. From The Crystal […]
March 15, 2018
The Bitter Twins by Jen Williams
This is the second book in the Winnowing Flame trilogy and continues soon after the end of the first book, The Ninth Rain. Since this is a sequel I will not be going into details of the plot, but I will say that the sequel maintains the fantastic standard of the first book. The Bitter […]
